The Importance of Outsiders to Pauline Communities PDF Download

Author: Emma Louise Parker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567713814
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
This book argues that, despite Paul's often dramatic and critical descriptions of non-Christians, his letters reveal a deep concern for the presence of outsiders and for their opinion of Christians. Parker suggests that outsiders are enormously important to Paul: they determine whether Christian communities dwindle or thrive, while also playing a key role in helping such communities to understand and shape their purpose as missional disciples, develop their thinking and practice around normal daily events and relationships - and even shape how they understand God. Parker offers a careful exegesis of the main texts within the Pauline corpus, revealing a sensitivity to the outsider; including 1 Thessalonians, Romans, 1 Corinthians and the Pastoral Epistles. By using Social Identity Theory she explores key concepts of group boundaries, identity and inter-group relations, highlighting a theme which is significant in Paul's own thought: the importance of similarity between groups. Whilst not denying the counter-cultural identity of the new Christian communities, Parker concludes that Paul reveals the areas of overlap between insiders and outsiders, since these areas not only create opportunities for positive opinions and relationships but also point to a greater understanding of God.

Author: Jacobus (Kobus) Kok
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783161521768
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
From its very beginning, Christianity was an innovative movement which had to construct and maintain its identity, morality, and social as well as theological boundary markers as it developed from a religion of conversion into a religion of tradition. Early Christianity's sensitivity to "outsiders" evolved in various ways as circumstances and socio-cultural contexts changed. In this volume, scholars from around the world reflect on the dynamic relationship between mission and ethos in the New Testament and Early Christianity, focusing particularly on the sensitivity, or lack thereof, to outsiders, and thereby offering new insights into old questions. Most of the New Testament and several second century books are individually studied by specialists in the field making this book a valuable reference volume on the topic.

Author: David E. Bosworth
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004693130
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
When Paul heard that a Christ-follower in Corinth was in an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, the apostle insisted the man be removed immediately from the congregation. This dramatic response is surprising, as Paul responds to other serious situations with much less vehemence. Why did Paul react to the immoral man with such urgency and severity? Using socio-cultural tools, this study explains the importance of group identity and witness for Paul’s ecclesiology. The argument lays a foundation for contemporary readers to appraise contexts where an expulsive response to sin might be appropriate.

Author: Jacobus Kok
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 3643911157
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
The construction of early Christian identity was a dynamic process in which social boundaries were drawn but also transcended. The source documents of Christianity bear witness to the process and dynamics involved in the construction of insiders and outsiders - determining who is to be included and who excluded. In the super-diverse and super-mobile time in which we live, identity boundaries are often drawn. This volume explores not only New Testament and Early Christian texts to investigate these dynamics, but also how contemporary ideology can shape the reading of scripture to exclude or include others.

Author: Amos Yong
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532604890
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
In the contemporary biblical studies climate, proposals regarding the theological interpretation of Scripture are contested, particularly but not only because they privilege, encourage, and foster ecclesial or other forms of normative commitments as part and parcel of the hermeneutical horizon through which scriptural texts are read and understood. Within this context, confessional approaches have been emerging, including some from within the nascent pentecostal theological tradition. This volume builds on the author's previous work in theological method to suggest a pentecostal perspective on theological interpretation that is rooted in the conviction that all Christian reading of sacred Scripture is post-Pentecost, meaning after the Day of Pentecost outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh in anticipation of the coming reign of God. In that respect, such a pentecostal interpretative perspective is not parochially for those within the modern day movement bearing that name but is arguably apostolic in following after the scriptural imagination of the earliest disciples of Jesus the messiah and therefore has ecumenical and missional purchase across space and time. The Hermeneutical Spirit thus provides close readings of various texts across the scriptural canon as a model for Christian theological interpretation of Scripture suitable for the twenty-first-century global context.

Author: Michael J. Gorman
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532615450
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
The Gospel of John would seem to be both the “spiritual Gospel” and a Gospel that promotes Christian mission. Some interpreters, however, have found John to be the product of a sectarian community that promotes a very narrow view of Christian mission and advocates neither love of neighbor nor love of enemy. In this book for both the academy and the church, Michael Gorman argues that John has a profound spirituality that is robustly missional, and that it can be summarized in the paradoxical phrase “Abide and go,” from John 15. Disciples participate in the divine love and life, and therefore in the life-giving mission of God manifested in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. As God’s children, disciples become more and more like this missional God as they become like his Son by the work of the Spirit. This spirituality, argues Gorman, can be called missional theosis.

Author: Arvind Sharma
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110888440
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Sinceits founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline.

Author: Susanne Luther
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110717484
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Travel and pilgrimage have become central research topics in recent years. Some archaeologists and historians have applied globalization theories to ancient intercultural connections. Classicists have rediscovered travel as a literary topic in Greek and Roman writing. Scholars of early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have been rethinking long-familiar pilgrimage practices in new interdisciplinary contexts. This volume contributes to this flourishing field of study in two ways. First, the focus of its contributions is on experiences of travel. Our main question is: How did travelers in the ancient world experience and make sense of their journeys, real or imaginary, and of the places they visited? Second, by treating Jewish, Christian, and Islamic experiences together, this volume develops a longue durée perspective on the ways in which travel experiences across these three traditions resembled each other. By focusing on "experiences of travel," we hope to foster interaction between the study of ancient travel in the humanities and that of broader human experience in the social sciences.

Author: Gregory M. Weeks
Publisher: Cokesbury
ISBN: 1791006493
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Sociologists studying the early church often attribute its growth to the sense of belonging it offered people in a world where belonging was limited to those with things such as property, high status, and birthright. Scripture is clear that we belong to God’s people even when we appear to be outsiders. After over 2000 years of existence as an institution, we can easily take for granted that we know what the church is. It is instructive to look at how the first members of the church understood the purpose of assembling as a group, how this has shaped our understanding of church, and how our understanding might need to expand. The opening of God’s people to both Jews and Greeks, men and women, masters and slaves required people previously unaccustomed to eating together to sit down at a common table. The practice of open table fellowship in the church is a sign of God’s shared abundance, ministry of reconciliation, and celebration. Adult Bible Studies Fall 2021 Theme: Belong Unit 1: Outside In Sociologists studying the story of the early church often attribute the growth of the church to the sense of belonging that it offered people in a world where belonging was limited to those with things such as property, high status, and/or birthright. This unit of lessons looks at the various ways that the Bible makes clear how we belong to God’s people even when we appear to be outsiders. Several of the lessons point out where we as human beings insert distinctions that restrict membership within the community of Christ. Scriptures: Jeremiah 29:1-23; Luke 7:36-50; Galatians 2:11-21; Philippians 3:2-21; Ephesians 2:19-21 Spiritual Practice: Hospitality Unit 2: Into the Future After over 2000 years of existence as an institution, we can easily take for granted that we know what the church is. This unit invites readers to look at it from the view of the community living into the future. The Greek word for church, ekklesia, is not a word that the first members of the church associated with a religious activity. The word signifies the assembly of the people of God. It is instructive to look at what their understanding of the purpose of assembling as a group signified, how it has shaped our understanding of church, and how reading these texts might renew and expand our understanding. Scriptures: Acts 2:37-47;1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Matthew 16:13-19; Revelation 3:1-6, 14-20; Deuteronomy 29:10-29 Spiritual Practice: Community Unit 3: The Fellowship of the Table Once one enters the Church through baptism, the central identity marker for membership in the church is participation in Communion. The opening of God’s people to both Jews and Greeks, men and women, masters and slaves required people previously unaccustomed to eating together to sit down at a common table. When we look at the Gospel narratives, we see Jesus modeling open table fellowship. In this unit, we will look at the significance of the practice of open table fellowship in the church as a sign of God’s shared abundance, ministry of reconciliation, and celebration. Scriptures: John 6:1-15; 1 Samuel 25:2-39; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Isaiah 25:6-10a; 55:1-3 Spiritual Practice: Open Table Fellowship Adult Bible Study components include: Student Book Published quarterly, each week's Student Book lesson lists background Scripture, features key verses, provides reliable and relevant biblical explanation and application, and more, in a readable font size that is accessible to everyone. Teacher Book/Commentary Kit Each quarterly Teacher/Commentary Kit includes a Teacher Book with additional biblical background and exposition and suggestions for guiding group discussion and a copy of the new quarterly Adult Bible Studies Concise Commentary, designed for readers who seek additional background on the biblical text for each session of Adult Bible Studies Video-DVD Does your group enjoy watching videos to generate conversation around Bible studies? Video sessions directly correspond to the Adult Bible Studies quarter’s theme and content and features a segment for each Bible lesson. Hundreds of thousands of people each week have transformative encounters with God through Adult Bible Studies—Bible-based, Christ-focused Sunday school lessons and midweek Bible studies endorsed by the Curriculum Resources Committee of the The United Methodist Church. In 2020, we reintroduced printed focal Bible passages in both the Student and Teacher books. Lessons follow the church seasons, including Advent and Lent, and include suggestions for developing spiritual practices to help nurture your faith. Visit AdultBibleStudies.com and sign up for the weekly newsletter to automatically receive the FREE Current Events Supplement and other information about these resources and more!

Author: Sookgoo Shin
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004387439
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
In Ethics in the Gospel of John Sookgoo Shin seeks to challenge the dominant scholarly view of John’s ethics as an ineffective and unhelpful companion for moral formation. In order to demonstrate the relevance of John’s ethics, Shin argues that the development of discipleship in John’s Gospel should be understood as moral progress, which was a well-known moral concept in the ancient Mediterranean world. Having drawn an ethical model from the writings of Plutarch, this study aims to identify the undergirding ethical dynamic that shapes John’s moral structure by bringing out the implicit ethical elements that are embedded throughout John’s narratives, and thus suggests a way to read the whole Gospel ethically and appreciatively of its literary characteristics.